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My Name According to Urban Dictionary

Here’s what Urban Dictionary has to say about my name,  Asad Jaleel. Embarrassing admission: I liked what it said about my last name so much that I bought the T-shirt.

Asad:

An extremely attractive man with an amazing body, the word “Asad” is derived from Arabic meaning, “Lion.” Asad is extraordinarily powerful but also very kind and forgiving. Asad always looks out for other people and is there for one’s protection and guidance.

Jaleel:

something that is totally awesome

girl 1: dude, have u tried that yogurt from Yogurtland?

girl 2: yah dude, its yorgasmic

girl 1: its better than yorgasmic. its jaleel!

Try your name, see what you get, and post it in the comments section.

Nighthawks

A critic cannot analyze anything until he or she develops the skill of looking at something with fresh eyes. Imagine a teenage boy who has fallen in love for the first time. He listens to a sappy love song he heard a year ago and to which he never gave a second thought. But now that he feels the kind of emotion expressed in the song, he appreciates it on a higher level.

I hope that I can help you have that experience of sensing anew relative to a famous painting, Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.

It’s a diner. Big deal. Let’s start with the obvious and work our way to the subtle. It’s dark so it must be nighttime. There are four people. There’s a man and a woman sitting together. One man is sitting alone. One man in white looks like he works there.

It’s apparent that this painting is old. The clothes the people are wearing are out of fashion now. The style of the diner is also out-of-date.

Where is this painting set? It seems like the United States. It’s not entirely obvious but it seems more like a big city than either a suburb or a small town.

What about the title? Usually it’s a good idea to start one’s analysis with title, but this time I’ve saved it for last. What is a “nighthawk?” Perhaps it’s a large bird of prey that hunts after the sun sets. But there are no birds in the picture. Maybe it’s a metaphor. It might mean people who stay up late. Like night-owls.

Let’s step outside the four corners of the painting. When was this painting created? 1942. What was going on at that time? Diligent students of U.S. History know that December 7, 1941, was the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. We have to remember what a shock that was to Americans. Many have compared Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

There’s a pervading sense of loneliness and introspection in this painting. The four characters aren’t looking at each other. One man is sitting by himself. Maybe one of them has lost a family member or friend in the war.

Here’s something the artist himself missed when he made the painting.  Where is the diner’s door? Look carefully. There isn’t one. There are two bars fixing the window in place, but there’s no door. The lack of a door illustrates isolation and entrapment. Hopper denied that he had intended to express this in Nighthawks, but he admitted that “unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.” 1

If Hopper’s shadowy depiction of a diner at night seems familiar, it’s probably because this painting has had a major impact on culture. It’s been alluded to in numerous movies, TV shows, comics, and songs. Some of the more notable examples include The Sting, Blade Runner, That 70’s Show, and The Simpsons.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks

A Mistake Corrected After 24 Years

Thank you, U2, for correcting an error that you made in 1984. Devoted U2 fan that I am, I know that U2 released their album, “The Unforgettable Fire,” in that year. The most anthemic song of that album was “Pride (In the Name of Love).” The song, an ode to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has the lyric, “ Early morning April 4, a shot rings out in the Memphis sky.” Yet diligent students of U.S. history realize that there is a mistake here. Dr. King was shot at 6:01 p.m., which is not early morning by any stretch of the imagination.

Fast forward to 2008, when R&B star John Legend covered “Pride (In the Name of Love.” If one listens closely to this version, one will hear Legend say, “Late afternoon, April 4, a shot rings out in the Memphis sky.” I’m not sure who’s responsible for this subtle amendment, but I appreciate it.

Now if they could just fix “Vertigo” . . . .

My Former Student

A former student of mine, Howard, has just pulled off an amazing prank. I don’t know whether to be proud or ashamed. Howard is a tech guru. A few days ago, he created a fuzzy, yet intriguing, rendering of a cell phone. He sent emails to several media outlets saying he wanted to leak the design. One of the outlets, an online tech magazine, believed him. Others followed. now the design is all over the web. At least one reader has commented that the image looks phony, but most seem to accept it as true.

By the way, Howard is 15.
The image here is his handiwork: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/25/is-this-the-motorola-motosplit/.

Singing About Ambien

Jay Z -(Empire State of Mind) “MDMA got you feelin’ like a champion/ City never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien”

Jay-Z, in a quite cavalier manner, tells his listeners how to achieve “better living through chemistry.” MDMA is an acronym for the active compound in Ecstasy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA) Ecstasy is a stimulant that can accelerate the beating of the heart, cause depression, set off strokes, and result in comas. Ecstasy can kill and there are numerous news reports of teens dying of overdoses. In fact, a student in my high school died of ecstasy overdose in the late 90s.

Ecstasy has some pleasant short-term effects. It can increase energy and alertness. It can heighten one’s sense of self-confidence. But one can get the same effects from a balanced diet, exercise, and a number of perfectly healthy activities.

Jay-Z also says that since “the city (New York) never sleeps,” he “better slip you an Ambien.” This spreads the notion that if one has trouble sleeping, one should just take a pill for it – an Ambien. But Ambien or zolpidem carries a risk of dependency, especially for those with a history of drug abuse or alcoholism. It can impair one’s ability to drive, as in the case of Representative Patrick Kennedy (http://wcco.com/national/Rep.Patrick.Kennedy.2.267357.html). Ambien withdrawal can cause seizures. I would not go so far as to say that no one should use Ambien, but it is a prescription drug for good reason. One should only use such drugs as directed by a qualified physician.

John Mayer – (Heartbreak Warfare) “Red wine and ambien/ You’re talking s*&% again/ It’s heartbreak warfare.”

Ambien and alcohol are a dangerous mix. Both drugs increase the effect of the other. Drowsiness, blackouts and even severe depression can occur. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4699342_can-occur-drink-alcohol-ambien.html.

It seems like John Mayer is implying that the combo of ambien and wine is making his girlfriend angry. Or perhaps her use of drugs is making her speak more loosely than she normally would.

Amanda Palmer – (Ambien)
“Ambien, arsenic/
and make me a lesbian/
make me a something/
so i can forget him/
and get back to reading/
and get back to sleep again/
Ativan, marzipan/
anything, anything/”

It’s interesting how she places ambien and arsenic together. Arsenic is a fatal poison. She may be recognizing the danger of the drug.

The line “Ativan, marzipan” is especially disturbing because it likens a prescription anxiety drug to candy. What kind of message does this send?

Yet what can we do as a democratic society to deal with singers who seem to be encourage the use of prescription meds? While some might suggest censorship, a counter movement would adhere more closely to our liberal values. (I mean liberal in the sense of valuing free expression not as in an ideology opposed to conservatism.) We need musicians, artists, and writers who challenge the notion that happiness comes out of an orange bottle.

Also, education can show people why they should not do drugs. As a former educator, I know that teachers already have many responsibilities. Yet I also know that a major reason why many teachers chose the profession is to have impact on their students’ lives. Giving students guidance to make more prudent choices about drugs is something that matters to many schools.

Reflections on Haiti

Science tells us that plate tectonics is crucial to the survival of life. The carbon cycle requires the crust to sink to the inner earth as it does in earthquakes. Then lava must come back up through volcanoes. No carbon cycle would mean an unreliable supply of the building blocks of life.

Is this comforting when you’ve lost your family? Definitely not. And what about the idea that this is part of a Divine plan? It may be comforting to some, but to many it will be unsatisfying.

What do we lose when we lose a human? We lose a universe in miniature. We lose a masterpiece that never existed before and will not exist again until the Resurrection. We lose a node in the interconnected web of life. We lose a source of ideas, solutions, and passions. We lose a being that God loves with the love of a thousand mothers.

As hard as it is to reconcile God’s love with God’s capacity for destruction, we must try. I cannot accept that God ravaged Haiti out of hatred. How can anyone love Haiti more than the One who created them, who gave them eternal souls, who formed them in the womb, who sustained them in life and who will resurrect them after death?

Some will say that God is dying in Haiti. I cannot say that Allah is dying and dead because I believe He is Al- Hayy, the Living, and As-Samad, the Eternal. And yet I also think that He feels the loss of the Haitians far more acutely than any mortal ever could. In one sense, they are not lost to Him because they have returned to Him. But He knows more than anyone that the living are different from the dead. He knows that they have lost the capacity to earn reward in His Paradise (except for continuous charity and the like).

As for the Haitians that He chose to live, they have received a gift and a test. The gift is the chance to live with the certainty that life is finite and precious. The test is the combination of poverty and fear that they are experiencing now. The aid that is coming from around the world is also a test. Will Haiti’s citizens show gratitude or will they be ungrateful? Will they allow foreigners to repossess their country or will they fight for independence?

I know you, my readers, don’t agree with a lot of this. I hope this doesn’t make you angry. But this is what I believe. This is who I am. And this inspires me to first, pray to Allah that He protects the Haitians. And second, it inspires me to give what I can to uplift Haiti as well as to encourage my friends to do the same. I know your heart will lead you to do likewise, even if your reasons are entirely different.

Patience Means More Than Just To Wait

“There is no faith without going to the edge of disbelief.” – Anonymous

Take me up to the heights
And I will look down
I’m done with responsibilities and rights
I only want oblivion

Steeped in what you call sin
Failure on every front
I will dare to question
My turn before yours

I understand the cause of pain
The burden of choice
But what really racks my brain
Is the eons of silence

Not that I need to see your face
I long for a message
In this time and place
I need you more than ever

You were too wise to set a date
But no one said it would be so long
A world of violence and hate
Cries out for a hero

Patience means more than just to wait
It requires struggle too
Challenges of the world do not abate
When one simply does nothing

You give too much away
And our story is over
Until we’re ready for that day
Preserve the mystery

I’ll never be completely sure
The battle is in the debate
This faith and love will endure
So long as you don’t let me go

(C) Asad Jaleel Enterprises 2009

The Shia Question

If you want to explain your answer, leave a comment.

I Can Imagine and You Can Too

I hate it when people say, “I can’t imagine,” as in “I can’t imagine that Rajiv will be late for this appointment.” Really? You can’t imagine a person being late for a meeting? That is too much for your brain to comprehend, process, and visualize?

I love to quote, perhaps to a fault, but Lewis Carroll (Charles Babbage), the author of “Alice in Wonderlan,d” has a great line about this. He says, “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” That’s some impressive mental gymnastics, though not too difficult with some practice.

Here’s a mental exercise. Try it: Imagine a dentist. Now imagine him or her holding a banana. Close your eyes if you need to. So your Dr. So-and-So is holding a ripe, canary yellow banana or perhaps a more thoroughly ripened, sweeter brown banana. It doesn’t matter to the exercise what state of freshness the fruit is in. Now turn your gaze to the dentist’s feet. The dentist is wearing cowboy boots. Now instead of being in his office, or on the street, the dentist is standing on the blood-red surface of Mars. You have a dentist holding a banana, in cowboy boots, and on Mars. Completely impossible. But is it impossible to imagine? No, not at all.

In fact, it’s quite easy to imagine. You can imagine anything you want to because there are no rules and no limits. So don’t say you “can’t imagine.”

And don’t call people mouthbreathers. Yes, we all enjoy colorful phrases to describe stupidity – dolt, moron, nincompoop, ignoramus, dunce, and the like. Fine, I understand that. But some people actually have a medical condition that keeps them from breathing through their nose. There’s nothing inherently stupid about breathing through one’s mouth. Plus you’re seriously scraping the bottom of the criticism barrel if you’re mocking someone for how he or she breathes. Excuse me for breathing, through my mouth, in the middle of a hurricane, on Christmas, in Chicago.